newWitch #03 Springtime Bliss (download)

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newWitch #3 - Springtime Bliss

This light-hearted issue — graced on its cover by the smiling visage of songstress and Pagan favorite Candace Knight — is sure to brighten your day with its enchanting mix of practical magic and flirtateous whimsy. Just right for a sunny Beltane afternoon!

We start with our columnists: Sexy Witch LaSara Firefox teaches us how to create a Beltane love-nest (she uses the old-timey word "bower,") while City Witch Christopher Penczak offers us “3 Steps to Making a Magickal Urban Retreat."

Our cover interview this issue is with the Bard and Lady of Blackmore's Night: Richie Blackmore and Candace Night, who sit down with nW editor Dagonet Dewr to discuss their musical and magical journeys. You'll love this exclusive conversation with one of Paganism's favorite Renaissance duos.

The late, beloved writer Patricia Monaghan's article "Poetry made me a Pagan," is an ode to the most lyrical of literary forms; Nicole LeBoef tangles with her muse (who seems determined to get her to write erotica) in "An Offering to Erato," and Carol Queen offers to heat up your spring with "13 Sexy Reads for Your Beltane Boudoir."

In case you thought we were getting too "dirty" in this issue, our next section cleans things right up. "The Joy of Bathing" by Leni Austine and "The Magical Art of Soapmaking" by Alicia Grasso put together a lovely set of crafts and rituals for making the most of our seemingly mundane ablutions.

Things get a wee bit more serious when Jason Pitzl-Waters (yes, *that* Jason, of "The Wild Hunt") introduces us to the interface between Goth and Pagan subcultures in his column "A Darker Shade of Pagan." Then we get right into Defense against the Dark Arts territory with "An introduction to psychic vampirism," "Psychic self-defense for beginners," and "Shaving with Occam's Razor: Am I under psychic attack or just having a bad day?" These three articles bring both common sense wisdom and magical technique to bear on these tricky (and common) questions.

But there's more! Take a journey to the East with "A Pagan Guide to World Religions: Buddhism, chat with British Traditional Witch Leon Reed; find a mystical connection with Elizabeth Barrette's story "A Light in the Forest," and, of course, there's our potpourri of amazing reviews and Good Witch/Bad Witch (who answer the question "How do I get my well-meaning Christian friends to stop evangelizing me?" with their usual blend of sass and good sense.